Scavengers
by Imorphemi
Summary: A few times when scavengers appear in Wings of Fire, from their PoV. Rose (Flower) and her friends try to steal from Queen Oasis and Rose ends up as Smolder's pet. Sunny finds Ivy (Holler) and Smoke (Fluffy). Coal (Bandit) living with Winter in the Jade Mountain Academy.
1. Stealing from the Sandwings

"I say it's a bad idea." Rose declared when they tethered their horses to a really really big catacus. "There might be dragon guards, or we could-"

"Oh come on, sis," Leaf said, swinging her bag around, "Ink already saw that there were no dragons there. Cheer up!"

Ink punched her shoulder lightly. "We'll be fine. We've been arguing about this hours already. Plus it's me and Leafa, against you. that two against one." Leafa beamed

She pouted, still feeling unsure about what they're doing. "Easy for you to say. You're fast, and this is what, the 11th time you robbed a treasure room."

"I know! It'll be fun." He grinned. Leafa rolled her eyes while Rose tried to push away all the horrible scenarios that could happen, and almost fell into a ditch, if Leafa didn't pull her back.

"Jeez, Rose! You gotta watch out!" Leafa giggled, "We're gonna be fine. You wanna know why?"

Rose glanced at her, skeptical. "Why?"

Leafa snorted, "It's so obvious! Because that guy," She points to Ink, who was fiddling with his bag and looking around, "is gonna go first."

"Which means?" Rose raised her eyebrows.

"Which means he's gonna get EATEN first!" Leafa shrieked, with a little too much enthusiasm.

Ink had heard her and apparently did not like what she said. "Hey hey hey, I'm not gonna die, cause you are gonna do the brave sacrifice." He protested, then grinned.

"Are not." Leafa shot back.

"Are too." Ink said.

"Are not"

"Are too."

"Are not"

"Are too."

"Guys stop it." Rose interrupted, "Its terribly amusing to watch you guys shoot back and forth, but," She pointed upwards, where there was a gigantic wall with large windows. "We're there."

* * *

"Whoa!" Leafa yelled up from her rope. "Would you please pull harder, and not LET GO AT RANDOM TIMES?"

"I'm trying to." Rose yelled back, and pulled harder, bruising her elbow on her sword in the process. "Ink, couldn't you help a bit?" She shouted at Ink, who was staring down the hallway.

"Eh, you're doing fine." He waved his hand at her, still not looking back.

"Selfish." She grumbled. Finally, Leafa came up, and they sat down, exhausted.

Leafa stretched and looked out. "Man, that was scary."

"Yeah, and you're heavier." Rose muttured.

"Hurry up guys!" Ink yelled from across the hallway.

"Coming." they yelled back, and ran after him.

Rose rubbed her hands while they ran after him. "What's the big rush?"

"Apparently I miscalculated where the treasure room is." Ink scratched his head. "We need to walk through a few more hallways."

"Oh my gosh I can't believe you actually miscalculated!" Leafa widened her eyes in mock surprise.

Rose swatted her on the head. "Stop being sarcastic." Leafa just grinned.

"Rose, Leafa hurry up." Ink called from the end of the second hallway.

Leafa ran after him. "Why don't _you_ slow down then?" Ink just sighed and shook his head

* * *

After a lot of running and turning and some hiding from dragon soldiers (they're not very bright, the hallways aren't either), Ink pointed at the nearest door which engraved with some weird markings. "The treasure room?" Rose guessed.

"The restroom?" Leafa asked at the same time.

"Yes, its the restroom that holds all the treasure-Of course its not the restroom!" Ink yelled. Rose tried to hold in her giggles while Leafa, also trying not to laugh, tried to look innocent. Ink sighed. "Look, I think we have a few minutes before any dragons come, so we should be quick. and of course-"

"Pfft. No dragon would come in. Cause its the restroom. The bottom gap is large enough for us to squeeze through though...lets go!" Leafa interrupted, looked at the door, then dashed under it. Rose ran after her and dove under it too.

"Wow!" She gasped, trying to take in the shiny glimmering treasure around them.

"Grab your favs!" Ink raced past them, stuffing a ruby into his bag. Leafa was already trying to get a bracelet into her bag. Rose looked at them randomly stuffing things in and ran to the top of the nearest pile.

"No," She muttered tossing aside an emerald, "Nah, nope, ooh shiny! No, nah." Rose threw a few more gems away, except for a multicolored one.

"Jackpot!" Leafa suddenly yelled, holding atop a blue shiny dragon gem thingy.

Ink grinned. "Nice."

"Thanks." She pressed the face against its shiny blue surface. "It's see-through! And the eyes look so pretty!" She squealed

Rose rolled her eyes. _She's so immature._ Then dug in deeper and spotted a spark of red. "Hey, what's this?" Rose grabbed something and pulled out a black orb incased in a gold thingy with wings.

"Looks important." Ink observed.

"Just stuff it in!" Leafa yelled.

"Alright." Rose dropped it in, feeling elated. Maybe Ink was right after all. There was nothing to worry about.

* * *

After some time Ink started toward the door. "Its been a few minutes already, we should go." He said.

"Aww, come on." Leafa complained. "There's still so many things that I wanna take." She looked down at her bulging bag.

Rose slid down her pile on a giant gold round flat thing. "Leafa, your bag is almost full-no, _very_ full anyways." Suddenly they heard a roar.

Leafa grabbed a random thing, which to Rose looked like a blue star, and stuffed it into her bag. "Yeah we should go."


	2. Running Away

They were at the window when they heard the shouts and roar. "Quickly quickly!" Rose said nervously while Ink let down the rope.

"Done! Hey, wait!" Ink yelled as Leafa immediately slid down the rope, eager to get out of the palace.

Suddenly a giant sand-colored dragon burst out and looked around. _Looking for its treasure, I guess._ Rose thought while Ink jumped in terror and slid down. Unfortunately, he had forgotten his bag of treasures.

"Seriously Mr. Treasure Stealer?" Rose yelled down, holding up Ink's bag. She couldn't tell his face from up one the window. It must have looked sheepish. Rose held on to the rope and the two bags, which was pretty hard.

When she was halfway down, Rose saw the big dragon heading toward them. "Get outta here!" She pointed at the big dragon, but Ink and Leafa only grinned and made a thumbs-up. Rose slid down quicker, but it was only when she was almost down Leafa noticed the dragon.

"RRRRUUUUUNNNNNNN!" She shrieked and ran, dragging Ink with her.

"Hey, wait for me!" Rose jumped down and ran after them, but the scaly winged animal blocked her and eyed the two bags she was carrying. _No...sudden…moves._ Rose thought, but suddenly she (Rose was pretty sure it was a she) leaped toward her, and Rose darted to the side, running as fast as she could.

The dragon was (duh) gaining on her. It snapped at Rose and she jumped and stabbed randomly with her sword. It roared in pain and slowed down. Rose sneaked a glance over her shoulder and found out that she had stabbed her in the eye. It had also stopped, probably because of the pain and the random spears and arrows stuck between her scales.

Soon Ink and Leafa galloped on their horses to her. "What happened?" Leafa asked.

Rose pointed at the dragon. "I stabbed her in the eye."

"Ooh yeah, and we shot her with a bunch of stuff." Ink commented. "Hey maybe we should cut off that tail barb. I think its poisonous. Might be helpful."

Just then, the dragon reared up. Leafa screamed and it slammed itself down on her, then didn't move.

"Leafa!" Rose cried running back to the dragon.

"I'm alright." A muffled voice came from under the scales and Leafa struggled out from it. "My spear was pointed upwards and it stabbed her in the throat."

"Oh so that's why she stopped moving." Ink observed. "Lets get to work now."

* * *

Ink carried and strapped the tail to his horse saddle, while Leafa and Rose ran around tugging things out of the dragon.

"There." Rose looked at the dragon, now free from any clues that it was them. "That's good enough."

Ink grunted. "Not really. I can't find a way to stop the flow of this poison."

"Ink, I'm sure that you can figure it out once we got to the village, but the sun's coming up, and some dragons might come looking for her." Leafa pointed to the dead dragon and as if on cue, a roar echoed through the sky and dark dragon shapes flew toward them.

Ink jumped on to his horse. "Okay let's go." And bolted off, leaving horse trails and poison drops. Leafa also followed his example.

"Hey!" Rose yelled at them. "Ink, you forgot your bag again. And where's my horse-uh oh." She turned around and saw the dragons approaching. _I better hide._ She thought. _These bags would slow me down._ She looked around and muttered. "Time to do something _utterly disgusting_."

Rose ran back to the dragon corpse's mouth, shuddering violently as she forcefully opened in and placed-no, threw the bags inside. "Okay now that problem's solved." she told herself while running away from the approaching dragons, though they had slowed down to look at the dead dragon.

One of them were probably issuing orders to search for any clues, and some dragons flew off at different directions. Suddenly a shadow passed overhead and Rose threw herself onto a nearby sand dune and covered herself with sand, hoping to hide.

A few minutes later a big thingy stepped onto Rose's sand dune. _A dragon!_ Rose thought frantically. The dragon stomped around and stepped on Rose's foot, making her scream. His head whipped around to look for whatever that made that scream and lifted his foot. Rose took that moment to stab his foot with her sword and run. Unfortunately, more dragons appeared and surrounded her.

Rose yelled and charged them, stabbing whatever scaly thing she could find. The dragons tried to breath fire at her and looked more annoyed when they missed. Rose tried to dart between them when one of the dragons accidently set fire to another one's tail. The one on fire was flailing around and shrieking, trying to put out the fire while the other dragons helped (or tried to help) him by burying his tail in the sand. It was quite funny, really. Rose almost succeeded in escaping until a big dragon picked her up and flew away from the other dragons.

"Lemme go, you big smelly pile of scales!" She yelled and tried to slash his claws with her sword. They flew toward the same castle that Rose and Leafa and Ink stole from with Rose yelling insults and struggling along the way.


	3. Captured by Dragons

Rose and her dragon captor flew to the palace. "You stinking, icky, slimy winged scale! Put me down this instant!" Rose screamed at the copper-colored dragon. It just looked down at her with an annoyed expression.

Rose thought about throwing a tantrum in the dragon's claws, but she did that a few minutes a go and it didn't work, so she settled in just stabbing him. Rose raised her sword and stabbed it downwards, but the dragon saw that and threw her into the air, unbalancing her, then catching her again, this time with her arms pinned between his claws. Rose groaned. This is not gonna work.

Suddenly the dragon flew through and oversized window and dropped her, injuring her arm in the process. Rose shook her fist at him. "Thank you very much for delivering me here and also bruising my arm!" Then she looked around and noticed six dragons glaring at her, with a few more guarding the doors and windows.

The dragon with pale sandy scales snorted at her then nodded to the wall. But the other dragon that looked like the sandy dragon's sister snapped at her and growled quietly. The last female dragon looked at her and grinned, like she got a good idea, and the others just looked at her skeptically. Rose took this chance and bolted toward the window, stabbing at the dragon soldiers in the way. She was almost out when the male dragons with black diamond shapes on his wings grabbed her and set her down on the ground.

That dragon snorted at the other female dragons, and the pale sandy one snarled at him, but the other ones seemed to back him up. Rose scowled at the dragons standing before her. Suddenly the black diamond dragon picked her up and carried her to another room. Rose tried to stab him with her sword, but he just plucked it out of her hand and placed it on a shelf that was way up.

Rose shook her fist at him. "Take away my sword? That was a gift from Leafa! Besides, I can still hurt you some other way!" She yelled, but to the dragon it only sounded like annoying chattering. Rose crossed her arms and glared at him, who was getting an enormous roll of paper with some markings on it. He looked at her, shook his head, and crossed off something on his list. He did that a few more times. Rose got curious and walked over to the scroll. The dragon looked surprised as she did that, but didn't try to push her away. She looked at it and saw a few words with most of them crossed out. _Maybe he's trying to name me._ Rose thought. She ran out of the room through a few hallways and skidded to a stop in front of a picture with roses on it.

"That could do." Rose smiled. A second later, that dragon came bounding through the hallway, and stopped when he saw her. Rose pointed at the picture. The dragon snorted and tipped his head. "That's my name!" She yelled at him, even though she knew that he could understand. Then he straightened up, like he understood, and nodded at her. Rose grinned.

"I need a name for you too." She said to the dragon. "How bout Sunny? No, he has some black colors." She brainstormed aloud, pacing around the corridor. "Aha!" She pointed at him. "Sandy! That's a cute name for you." Sandy then threw her a banana, thinking that she was hungry. "Well I am hungry." Rose took the banana (even though it was really big) and smiled, thinking that this might not be so bad after all.


	4. Meeting Sunny

Rose was sunning on a small platform that Sandy had built for her. It was in between to big walls, so it was hard for other dragons to spot her. Rose stretched out and looked out to the sky, where dragons were flying here and there. _Thank goodness Baddy_ (Burn) _isn't here,_ she thought. After all, she had even killed Cactus(Scald) and Snorty(Singe). "Well, I have to admit, Snorty is quite noisy and annoying." She told herself. Suddenly she heard a bell ring from inside the walls. "Oh!" She jumped up from her spot and darted through the hole that led inside.

Running toward the Yucky Place(Rose's name for Burn's Weirdling Tower) and toward the sound of the bell, Rose saw Sandy and another sand dragon looking thing. "Hey Sandy," She yelled at Sandy while still running, "who's that dragon? Why doesn't she have a poison tail?" She jumped down to the last level and ran toward him, climbed onto his talons, and resumed shouting at him.

Rose waved her arms. "Hey! I'm talking to you. Who's that dragon? Why is she funny-looking? AND WHY THE HECK DID YOU CALL ME WHEN I'M SUNNING?" She monetarily stopped as the other dragon studied her and said something to Sandy. _I'm going to have a name her to. Golden scales. How about Sunny? Yeah, I like that_. She thought when Sandy put her onto his back and she had to grab his spines for balance as he started walking.

Sandy started talking to Sunny in a series of growls, snorts, and a few other sounds. When they got into the Yucky Place, Rose tried to avert her eyes from seeing the weird animals that were in the fish tank they just passed. Sandy suddenly took a deep breath and folded his wings into a tent over her, then settled back. _Oh._ Rose thought, _He's talking about the time when Leafa, Ink and I stole the treasure._ He had done this many times when he talked to Baddy, Sharp(Blister), Jewel(Blaze), Cactus, or Snorty, and they all gave her disgusted looks, probably except for Cactus and Snorty. _But they're dead now._ A voice in her head said, and tried to shake it out.

Somebody roared and breathed fire from the upper level. Sandy only roared back, but it seemed more polite, and then went back to talking to Sunny. They passed the glass box that Rose now knew not to look into, but apparently Sunny didn't. She looked inside and immediately turned her focus back onto Rose and Sandy, said something and clamped her mouth shut. Rose tilted her head at Sunny, while Sandy gave her a questioning snort. Sunny said something quickly, and Sandy's growls became more affectionate, which Rose then knew that they were talking about her. She stared at Sunny, but then the no-claw stuffed brown dragon loomed out, and apparently Sandy and Sunny switched to talking about him.

Melty-Face(Scarlet) came within sight and lunged at them, making them all leap back, almost unbalancing Rose. Sunny look extremely terrified, like Melty-Face was her old enemy or something. Sandy snorted at her and put down the pail of water on the scratched X on the floor. He and Melty-Face had a little conversation, which Sunny then joined in, and after a while they flew over her. Rose clutched tightly to Sandy's neck, not wanting to fall onto the scary red dragon. Sunny seemed to be trying to fly as far as she could from Melty-Face, her wings brushing the walls.

They landed on another platform that Rose hardly been to, with chains. Sandy picked them up and Sunny let out a small whimper. Rose slid down from Sandy's back and patted Sunny's talons to reassure her. Sunny looked like she got the message. Sunny whimpered some more at Sandy, and he snorted back and clamped the chains onto her ankles, though Sunny looked a bit relived now.

Sandy dipped his wing toward Rose and snorted. She looked up at Sunny. _She'll be lonely. And she's not a bad dragon._ Rose patted Sunny's scales and sat down. Sandy looked confused and rang his bell, holding out his talons, but Rose just shook her head and placed her hand on Sunny's. Sandy fidgeted and let out a worried growl at Sunny, who seemed to protest. Sandy snorted at her, still worried, but Rose didn't move. He sighed and flew off.

Sunny put her big head on her talons and curled her tail in. Rose sat down into the curve of Sunny's side. _She's still pretty sad._ Rose noted. She reached into her bag and took out a piece of paper and her lump of charcoal and started to sketch. Sunny became interested and peeked over Rose's shoulder staring in disbelief at the appearing drawing of herself. Rose smiled at Sunny, and Sunny smiled back. _Success!_ Rose thought triumphantly.

Melty-Face's voice began to hiss out from below them. Sunny shut her eyes and covered her ears. Rose looked up at her, thinking that she wanted to go to sleep, and stayed quiet.


	5. The Treasure Rooms

**Sorry for the late update, I had school to do and whatnot. But yeah i finally found time to do this : )**

* * *

Rose stretched, yawned, and sat up. She had fallen asleep beside Sunny, who was still asleep. She then heard wingbeats, and stood up to see Sandy. Sandy's face showed all kinds of relief, making Rose almost laugh. He then selected an iron key from his necklace and used it to unlock Sunny's shackles. Rose ran to Sunny's tail (it was the most vulnerable part of her) and tugged it to wake her up. Sunny sat up and spread her wings and asked Sandy something. Sandy wryly suggested something that made Sunny squint, and he laughed. He unchained the last shackle off of Sunny and held one talon to Rose, which Rose then clambered onto and onto his back. Sandy snorted and Melty-Face roared below them. Sandy just rolled his eyes.

They dove off the platform and over where Melty-Face was chained, and she blasted a plume of flame near them. Rose tucked herself nearer to Sandy and saw Sunny curl her tail in. They flew out, and Rose realized that it was only early morning, and that Sandy didn't keep Sunny locked up very long. She frowned. _Yeesh, I hate these towers. They have almost no windows!_ She looked down at the birds hopping along at the walls, chirping. Sandy dove under an archway that led to the treasure room. They swept through the hallways that were dark when when she first came, but so beautiful when in the light, and landed in front of the doors Rose was familiar with, mostly because Leafa had joked that it was the dragon's restroom.

Sandy walked up to each of the doors and unlocked them with the gigantic brass keys on his neck. Rose had tried to lift them once, and failed. Sandy pushed the doors open, revealing nothing. Rose slipped on to his talon and he set her on the floor in front of the doors. She put her hands on her hips, thinking, _Do you really have to come here with me almost every week?_ She tossed her hair back. Sandy had an exchange with Sunny, and then Sunny crouched down to see Rose.

"He-ey! Don't step on or eat me!" Rose jumped back. Sunny had a thoughtful expression on her face, and looked at Sandy. Sandy put on a skeptical expression. Sunny stood up and stepped into two of the treasure rooms. She growled softly at Sandy, then smiled. He gave her a crooked smile, and reached into his bag and took out a banana, then tossed it to Rose. Rose caught it, sat down, and started to peel it, while Sunny and Sandy talked some more. Sunny started to pace the room, then stopped and looked at Rose. Rose stopped eating her banana and stared back. Sunny looked at Sandy again, and he tossed Rose another banana.

Sunny studied the rooms again, and her wings twitched. Sandy blew a plume of smoke, making Rose jump a bit. Sunny frowned and lashed her tail, smacking it into one of the doors. She then gave Sandy a small but excited roar, but Sandy shook his head. Rose lay down on the floor, still eating her banana. _Gosh, when is this gonna end? Well at least he gave me food._ She looked over at Sunny and met her eyes, then Sunny flared her wings, arching her eye ridges. Sandy only wrinkled his snout and looked a bit amused. Sunny glared back, then proceeded to growl a lot, then her face brightened up and she looked at Sandy. Rose sat up. _I really wish that I could understand them. This seems so interesting!_ Sandy's eyes were wide open, and Sunny's face fell a bit after that. She snorted at him, and Sandy shook his head, and for some reason Sunny kept growling, and Sandy roared at her, but Sunny roared back, triumphantly, while Sandy's face went slack.

Rose nodded at motioned them to go on, since it was kinda enjoyable, seeing these two dragons snap at each other. They didn't notice her though. Sandy said something quickly, and Sunny shrugged, snorting back at him. He narrowed his eyes, with smoke billowing from his nose. _Ooh!_ Rose thought, _He's getting angry! Well he hardly gets angry but the smoke makes him look like he has a mustache!_ She grinned at herself, very much enjoying this conversation, not because of the words, but because of the winning looks that Sunny gets and the angry and surprised looks that Sandy gets.

Suddenly a roar interrupted them.


	6. The Attack

**A pretty short one here, but its fine**

* * *

A roar interrupted them, and Rose heard talons scrabbling on stone as a dragon came skidding down the corridor, panting and sorta shrieking. "Oh." Rose thought aloud. "Its Snub (Camel). What news does he have?" Snubby kept on flailing and Sunny jumped away from his tail. Rose also took a step back as he nearly tumbled in the one of the rooms. Sandy grabbed him and growled, and Snub whimpered, then Sunny grunted at him, and he squeaked terror. Sandy just snarled and gave him a quick shake then held out a talon. Rose ran to Sunny and Sunny placed her on Sandy's hand, who placed her in a side room. He pointed a claw at her and growled.

"What, so you're just gonna leave me here?" Rose put her hands on her hips. "You always get to see the action." Sandy ignored her and ran up the corridor, with Sunny and Snub. "Ugh." She lay down again and watched them go, then pulled out her drawing of Sunny. "I wonder if I'll see her again. I wonder how Ivy's doing. I wonder everything!" She sighed and put down the paper.

"You know what." She said to herself and stood up, "I'm gonna follow them." She folded the paper up, put it in her bag and ran up the corridor where the dragons had disappeared.

* * *

After a while, she stood onto a window where she could view the apparent attack. "Oh gosh." Rose gasped. There were no other colors besides sand and light brown and a few really pale yellow scales. _Its only sandwings!_ She thought. Suddenly, a bright red dragon swooped up upon them, and all the dragons stopped, then Rose spotted Sandy and another dragon follow her to the Yucky Place.

"You know what?" Rose announced to herself again. "This is more boring than I thought. But I'm just gonna stay here for now." She sat down and leaned back on the side of the window while watching the crowd of sandwings, then spotted Sunny and Snub flying over the rooftops. "Eh." Rose shrugged, but continued to keep an eye on them.


	7. The Dragon

**Into Ivy(Holler)'s POV. Yea**

* * *

I walked through the forest, following the directions that I had overheard from Dad. Finally, dark shapes came into view, and I walked toward them. I gasped in wonder of the tall but charred buildings, a blackened bell on the floor, a statue hidden beneath some of the wreckage, and…a giant gold talon that radiated heat?

I looked up to get a better view, and almost shrieked in sight of the dragon that I somehow did not notice. It didn't seem to notice me either, and was looking at the statue with a sign of realization on its face. I slowly crept back toward the forest, but still keeping my eyes on the dragon, who was still looking around the charred place.

 _What is this dragon?_ I thought as soon as I was hidden well in the trees. She, I decided it was a she, had golden scales that I had never seen before, except for those emotions(Rainwings) when they're happy, but emotions don't have that frill. _Sand_ s(Sandwings) _do, but they have black eyes, not green, and they have pale yellow scales, not golden._

Before my trail of thought could finish, the dragon lifted into the sky and flew off. I ran out of my hiding place and toward the dragon, who was obviously faster than me, and she had disappeared into the sky, only seen as a dot. I stamped my foot in frustration and tried to remember her features.

"Right!" I thought aloud. "I can see her again with that blue star thingy that Mom got!" I raced back into the forest, my heart pounding with excitement.

* * *

I ran through the gate and winded through a few tunnels and streets. Finally, my house came into view and I bounced in. "Hi Mom!" I called into the house, then clamped my mouth shut. _Ivy, you went outside secretly!_ I mentally scolded myself. _That means no telling Mom or Dad. Well too late for that now._ I thought as Mom came down the stairs.

"You went somewhere?" Mom asked me. I slapped myself in the back.

"I just, um, went to look around in the garden! Yeah!" I grinned, hoping that Mom could believe that lie.

"Ah." Mom nodded. "Dad is looking through the treasure bag that I got again. I think he's still ashamed of leaving his bad and Rose back there." Her face fell. I remembered that she told me about her…um, whats the word? Right! Expedition! Her expedition with Dad and Aunt Rose to steal some treasure from the Sands. Unfortunately, when they got back they only had one bag, which was Mom's, and Aunt Rose didn't come back either.

"Oh right the treasure. Mm, can I borrow the blue star thing?" I asked

"You mean the dreamtalk?"

"Yeah that."

"Okay sure." Mom brought out the jewel from an old oak box. "Just don't lose, okay Ivi-vi?"

I took the jewel and put it into my pocket. "Okay Mom, and please don't call me that." I sped upstairs into my room and put the jewel under my blankets, so that I'll remember to visit that dragon.

"And Ivy," Mom called from downstairs, "You have to make dinner today."

"Fine." I grumped. Rrgh I hate making food. Unless its sweets. I took one last glance at the blankets to make sure, then stomped down to, ugh, make dinner.


	8. What Happened

I put the pot on the table and yelled out, "Dinner is ready!"

Dad came through the living room a second later. "Good girl." He smiled, and looked to the stairs at Mom coming down.

"Obviously, corn soup." Mom rolled her eyes when I opened the pot.

I scowled at her. "It's the only one that I like to make besides candy." I poured some of the soup into my bowl and sat down. Dad did the same. Mom sighed and took some bread from another plate.

"Dad?" I ask, after awhile.

He looks up with a mouthful of rice. "Mm?"

"Have you ever encountered any other dragons?" I sip my soup.

Dad swallows. "Well, yes. Remember that time when I went on a boat with Feather?"

I nod. It was a few months ago, and Feather had made a boat, and also persuaded Dad to go. "And?"

"Well, I said I was caught in a storm, right?" He smiles a bit. "Well, what I didn't tell you is that Feather and I got saved."

"By what?" Mom questions him.

Dad scratches his head. "It was by a dragon. An Ocean."

I turn to him, eyes wide open. "Why?" I ask loudly, probably yelling a bit. "Why did he or she save you guys?"

Mom is also confused. "I thought all dragons liked to kill us. Sometimes for no reason."

He shrugs. "I dunno. It was a she, and that time, when we were caught in the storm, she was just flying overhead. I looked up at her and she looked down at me, then decided to help us, apparently." Dad chuckles a bit. "She tried to carry our boat, but I guess it was a bit heavy, and she dropped it. Feather and I was screaming so loud."

I snorted a bit and Dad looks at me with a smile.

"It was pretty funny now that I think of it." He admits. "Anyways, after that she flew around and grabbed Feather in one talon and me in the other. We were hitting her and still screaming. I might have choked a bit because of the rain. For some reason she also shook us a but. Feather's voice became so high pitched."

At this point I couldn't hold the giggles, so I laughed out loud. Mom and Dad laughed as well, and we laughed for a minute or two. I think some water came out of my nose.

A while later Mom clamped her hand over her mouth and motioned for dad to keep going.

Dad swallowed. "She set us down on an island, and we were so terrified that we just ran up to the caves and trees." His expression became serious. "I've always wondered why she helped us."

We all became silent, thinking.

I spoke up. "Maybe she's one of those dragons that are, um, _okay,_ with us." I grin a bit

Mom shrugged, then went back to eating her bread. Dad rested his head on one hand and stirred his soup thoughtfully with the other.

"Well!" I suddenly stood up, "Since im finished and its not bedtime yet, Im gonna go see Smoke, okay? Need to tell him something." I walked to the sink and washed my bowl quickly, then bounced out of the door.


	9. Telling Smoke

**Okay, this is kind of a funny one, i just thought of Sunny naming him Fluffy by his hair so, why not?**

* * *

Once outside the door, I leaned against the wall, then looked up. My bedroom window was just there, above some crumbling rocks and between small tree roots. I turned and grabbed hold of a brick that was poking out of the wall, then hoisted myself up, grabbing another root. It wasn't a long climb, since im taller than I was when I was 7.

A few seconds later I jumped through my window and landed on the floor, making a big pound. _Dang it._ I thought, and tip-toed over to my bed, where the dreamtalk was hidden underneath the blankets. I took it out and put it into my bag, then climbed out of my window and skimmed a few ways down, jumping off at the last part.

I ran across some roads and stopped at a tree and knocked on the door. A woman, Beryl, opened it.

"Yes?" She asked, "Oh hi Ivy. Why are you here?"

"Im here to see Smoke." I replied. "Is he here?"

"Oh!" Beryl giggled, then covered her mouth. "Well, there is a bit of a problem."

I tilted my head, confused. "What. Problem?"

"Well. I think ill let you see for yourself. Smoke!" She called into the house.

Smoke came slumping down the stairs. His hair was puffy and all over the place, plus black at some parts.

I immediately burst out laughing. Beryl joined in. Smoke pointed at us with a murderous look on his face. "Not a word."

I ignored his warning. "What happened to your hair?"

He sighed. "Dad and I was working on this experiment. And it exploded a bit when I was adding some stuff." He tried to pat down his hair, but it still puffed up like some kind of fluffy black sheep.

"Oh." I nod, still giggling a bit. "Okay I need to tell you something okay?" Smoke nodded glumly and followed me outside.

Once we were outside, I told him about my experience with that golden dragon. Smoke scratched his head, making his hair poof out even more. "I never heard of any dragons like that." He said

I shrugged, "It kinda looked like a Sand, but it had no poison tail and the frill turned into spikes at the end. Plus, her scales looked more Dark(Nightwing) than Sand."

We thought for a moment. Suddenly Smoke gasped. I looked at him. "What?"

"Maybe she's a hybrid." He said

My eyes widened. "You mean maybe her dad is a Dark and her mom is a Sand? Or vice versa?"

He nodded, "I think so."

"Hmm," I paced around for a bit. "Can you come with me tomorrow night? I want to see her again."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "Won't it be dangerous?"

"It'll be fine." I promised. "See, ill visit her tonight with the dreamtalk." I took the blue star out of my bag a bit to show him.

He nodded. "Okay, Im in." He started back toward his tree. "See you at school."

I waved back. "See ya." I ran back to my house.


	10. Dreamvisiting

I ran into the house and faked a yawn. "Mom? Can I go to sleep now?"

Mom yelled from the kitchen. "You done your homework yet?"

 _Dang it._ I sighed, "No…"

"Do it first."

I grumbled and stomped up the stairs into my room. I put the bag with the dreamtalk onto my bed and tugged my homework book out of my backpack.

"Lets see…" I murmured flipping though the pages. "Aha!" I found the page today's homework. _Yes!_ I yelled internally, "Only math today!" Then I frowned. "And again, I hate math…"

I shoveled my math textbook out of my school bag and plopped it onto my desk, flipping to page 78. "Ugh…" I grumbled, looking over the questions…

* * *

 _A few minutes later…_

"Finally, done!" I slouched down on my chair, almost throwing my pencil out the window. I twisted my head to look at the dreamtalk. I sighed and walked over to my bed, taking out the blue star along the way. "Well I am tired."

I lie down on my bed and tried to remember how to do it again. Holding the jewel atop, I imagined the gold dragon. Good thing I examined it carefully. Then I stopped and remembered something that Mom had told me. _The person that you dreamtalk with may see where you are_.

"Hmm," I thought aloud. "Maybe I could go to the burned village, so that she knows that I can meet her there? Well I certainly do not want her trampling into my room to talk."

I took my bag and dropped the dreamtalk inside, then climbed out the window again, this time racing to the exit of our underground routes and caves. When I was at the entrance, I reviewed the instructions again. _Go forth at the large oak, then left at the pile of purple reeds…_ Following the landmarks and paths, I found myself back at the charred buildings.

Taking the dreamtalk out of my bag, I curled to a small niche that was somewhat hidden, then imagined the gold dragon, closed my eyes, and lifted the jewel to my head.

I appeared in a desert, with the sun beating down and…a giant gold dragon?

"Ah!" I yelped in surprise, and apparently she did too. It was the same dragon that was at the ruins, with, another person on her shoulder. She looked like Rose, and I can tell because Mom and Dad told me about her, with a lot of description.

The gold dragon tilted her head and took a step toward me, and for some reason, I stepped forward too, holding out my hand. I pointed at Rose. "Are you Rose, Leafa's sister? Do you know this dragon? Why are you sitting on her shoulder?"

I saw the gold dragon flare her wings in surprise, then she flicked her tail-

Wait, what?

Her tail didn't have a poison barb like other Sands. Well, technically that wasn't hard to believe as she is pretty different than other Sands.

Anyways, she flicked her tail and growled at me, and her tail seemed to be pointing at my hand. I looked down and yelped in surprise to see the dreamtalk glowing in my hand.

Snatching the dreamtalk back, I yelled at her, "Nu-uh! You are not taking it!" I then imagined lifting the jewel away from my head and I jerked out of the dream. Looking out, there was a big storm raging.

"Dang it." I grumbled. "Now I'm gonna get all wet."

Looking around, I spotted a circular wood slab, with a pole sticking from under it. Must have been a table. I lifted the table and hoisted the slab over my head, for some kind of makeshift umbrella. Good thing it wasn't very heavy.

I walked outside. "Urf." The rain was pouring down really hard, and the table/umbrella became heavier, because of the water. I stumbled into the cover of the trees, which somewhat lessened the strain to hold the table/umbrella out.

* * *

 _Another few minutes later…_

I got to the entrance of the tunnels, so I tucked my table/umbrella under some ferns. Might need it again later anyways. I then ran back to my house, climbed up to my window and plopped onto the bed, falling asleep immediately.


	11. The Day Before

I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock, which basically a rock that hits my stone-bedside table every morning.

 _CR-R-AC-CK!_

I sat up and got dressed. Yesterday's events came into my mind. The gold dragon. Rose. The dreamtalk. It really worked.

"Ivy! You're gonna be late for school!" Mom yelled from downstairs.

"Okay fine! If you say so much…" I grumbled as I shoved some books into my bag and started toward the stairs, and found myself glancing back at the dreamtalk. It was nestled snugly inside my other bag. I smiled at myself and ran downstairs.

Mom was making oatmeal. "Why are you almost always late for school? Even with an alarm clock?" She scolded me.

I grabbed a bagel. "Just because I go to school doesn't mean I like it." I ran out the door, taking big bites of my bagel while going toward the school tunnel, and stopping at Smoke's along the way.

* * *

Smoke was just coming out of his tree. His hair was still a mess, but better than before. "Gosh," I giggled when I saw him. "Your hair is still a mess."

He sighed. "I hope nobody notices or cares. But of course, it would be 99.9% chance that they will." He looked at me. "Did you message it?"

"She's not an it." I snapped back. "She's a living thing. A dragon. And yes I did message her."

"Yeah sure." Smoke snorted, and bits of ash flew off his head. "Okay, what happened then?"

I began telling him the story. "So I appeared in her dream and I saw her. I was like YES SUCCESS! But then I noticed another person on her shoulder. Like, literally riding on her shoulder! She looked like Rose, you know Rose right? Well, she looked so much like her that I'm 99.9% sure that she is Rose! So I asked her but she didn't reply. Instead the golden dragon-you know what? Golden dragon's too long. Ima call her Gold then. Ok, instead, Gold flicked her tail at me and growled, and I saw that her tail didn't have a poisonous barb thing like other Sands have. She was pointing at the dreamtalk, and I was like, 'Nu-uh! You cant take it!' and I popped outta her dream." I grinned at him.

He was silent for some time, then he said, "That's…interesting." Then we heard the gongs.

"Hurry up!" I shrieked and ran toward the school, which was fortunately pretty close now. "Tell you the rest after school!"

* * *

 _Afterschool…_

I met up with Smoke at the big oak tree outside of school. He was lugging a poster behind him.

"What is that?" I peeked sideways at it, trying to read what's on it.

He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Presentation for History. Good thing I don't have to finish it tomorrow."

I nodded thoughtfully, "Ok, can you meet with me after dinner at the entrance of the tunnels to go see Gold?"

"Um…" He scratched his head

I gave him the big-giant-puppy eyes.

Smoke sighed in defeat, "Fine…"

I jumped up. "Yay!" I then began running toward my house. "See ya!"

"Bye…" Smoke now had a 'I think this is a bad idea' expression on his face.

I grinned back.


	12. Meeting Gold

**A longer one than others. Been a while since i updated anyways**

* * *

After dinner I snuck out of my room again. I was halfway to the entrance when something hit me.

I forgot the dreamtalk.

"Dang it dang dang dangy dang!" I growled as I stomped back to my house. I was just starting to climb up when Dad came out of the door to, I'm assuming, go to the Council or something. That place is ever so boring. I never liked it.

Anyways, he looked around before going on to another street, so I had to scramble to the side of the house to avoid being seen by him. After he walked off to another street I continued to climb up, cursing a bit when my hand or foot slipped. The side of the house is harder to climb after all.

Finally, I tumbled into my room, again. I snatched up my bag with the dreamtalk inside, climbed out, and ran to the entrance to meet Smoke.

Smoke was waiting outside of the entrance with a torch. He looked bored, probably because I took so long.

"What took you so long?" He demanded. Nailed it.

I shrugged. "I had to get the dreamtalk." I walked towards the forest. Tonight it wasn't raining. Yay.

"Why do you even need the dreamtalk?" He followed me into the shade of the trees. "And do you really know the way to the burned village."

I turned to slap his arm. "Yes, of course I do. First we go left at the giant oak which is oozing sap, then past the purple mushroom ring, then…" I rattled off the directions as we walked, also pointing at the landmarks.

Finally, I saw the burned village. I pointed excitedly at it and tugged at Smoke's shirt sleeve. "See? Told you I remembered the directions!" I then took off into the bushes, not waiting for him to react.

I emerged at the back of the village. Smoke came out behind me.

"Woah." He gazed in wonder of the charred village. I nodded triumphantly at him, then walked into the village.

We weren't even to the nearest house when a dragon stepped out in front of us, spreading her wings and snarling at us. Don't ask why I thought it's a her.

We, obviously, ran away, both yelling.

The dragon leaped into the air, her fin rippling in the wind, and landed in front of me, barking. I ran in a different direction, only to be tripped by her tail.

Wait a sec, that tail didn't have a barb! Yet the dragon had a fin! It must be Gold! I thought, but barely had time to react when Gold trapped me in her front talons.

Suddenly, Smoke ran out of the village and threw his torch at her, which bounced off her scales, but Gold roared and dropped me, then knocked Smoke over with her tail, and picked me up again, growling. I, not wanting her to eat me, caused as much of a ruckus that I can manage, kicking, wriggling, and trying to make it impossible for her to hold me. Smoke was struggling to stand up.

Gold looked around and placed me on a wall, then whipped around, caught Smoke, and stuck him onto the wall too. I normally would have jumped off, but this one was too high and didn't have any holds to grab. The wall was quite narrow too, and Smoke, apparently, was afraid of heights, so he was yelping in terror. I stared at Gold instead.

The dragon grabbed a branch and set it on fire and stuck it on the ground. I pointed at her. "She's the dragon from my dream!"

Smoke looked skeptical. "Are you really sure? It's pretty dark here."

Gold growled at us, then cupped her front talons together and tilted her head.

"What do you think she's talking about?" Smoke whispered to me.

I slapped his arm. "Duh! She's talking about the dreamtalk. How would you not know that?"

Smoke looked offended. "Well, I never used it before, and I only saw it a few times, not like the time when you had that dream with her." He waved his hands in the air at 'dream'.

I rolled my eyes and was about to snap something back when Gold put a claw between us and glared at us and growled again. We stared at her as she put her talons between us.

I hesitated, looked at Smoke, and brought out the dreamtalk, dropping it into Gold's talons. The dragon's eyes widened and she breathed out. She raised the jewel to her eye, studying it, then made a low rumbling noise.

I blinked at her, not comprehending.

Gold took the jewel and put it on the ground, then drew a large circle around it in the ashes and took the air and placed it into the circle a few times. She then spread her wings around it and waved at the circle. Gold made that rumbling noise again, and took the dreamtalk and waved it in the air.

Smoke pointed at the circle. "Is she talking about the rest of the treasure that your mom and dad and aunt stole?"

"I know." I pointed at Gold's shoulder. "Take me on a ride first, then we'll discuss the treasure." Smoke stared at me like I was crazy.

Gold narrowed her eyes, and Smoke started yelling at me. "You can't order a dragon around! I'll go get the treasure." I grabbed his shoulder and tried to stop him, but he fended me off and pointed at the circle and then at him and and then at Sunny.

I stamped my foot and snapped at him. "How is Mom going to give you the treasure? Or are you gonna steal it? That's not gonna work."

"Well that's the only thing we can do to get outta here, right?" He put his hands on his hips.

Suddenly Gold let out a small roar and took Smoke and set him on the ground. Then she tapped me on the head. It was kinda funny seeing him yelling and flailing around in her talons, but her talon felt so scaly.

Gold pointed at Smoke, pointed to the forest, pointed at the circle, pointed at herself, then pointed at me. Smoke began backing up into the trees. "I'm pretty sure she's telling me to get the treasure and come back here, right?" He called to me.

I managed a bored sigh. "What do you think? Just go and come back quick. I still have art homework. You remember the directions, right?" He nodded and dashed into the forest.

I hope this works. I thought. I hope this really works, but still, I want something…

I pointed at Gold's shoulder. "Gimme a ride."

Gold snorted.

I pointed at her again. "GIMME A RIDEEEE!"

She thought for a sec, well at least I think she was thinking, then grabbed me. I, obviously, screamed and made a racket, until she set me on her shoulder. I grabbed hold of her neck as she took off into the air.

The view was dazzling, I could see the river down below glistening in the dark and the giant trees now the size of dolls. "This is amazing…" I murmured, still gazing down below. Gold swooped upwards, and my head jerked up automatically, where the night met my eyes, and the three moons and the stars gazed down. I wondered if I could actually touch the stars, but being this high up, I decided to be safe and kept my arms around Gold's neck.

Gold glanced down and I looked down with her. There was something moving near the big torch. Smoke! He was back! He actually succeeded in getting the treasure!

Apparently Gold had the same thought, because she dove toward the village, landing with a thump. I almost fell off.

"Yikes!" Smoke leaped backwards, then saw me on Gold's shoulder. Disbelief crossed his face, and he began yelling at me, hopping up and down. "DID YOU ACTUALLY DO THAT? I TOLD YOU NOT TO! BUT YOU ACTUALLY DID IT?"

I slid down from Gold's neck, a trick that I learned when I once scaled a small but steep and smooth mountain surface. I hopped off her talon and started yelling at him. "EXACTLY! It was awesome, man! You should've saw the view!"

Gold reached over my head and lifted the bag the Smoke was holding out of his hands. He was terrified, alright. I could practically see his hands shaking and the fact that he snatched his hands back with Gold took the bag.

She turned the bag over and dumped the contents out. The gold coins, jewels, and the blue dragon statue that I've seen the many times Mom and Dad let me look into the bag. She sifted through the pile, as if looking for something. Suddenly, a look of despair and anger replaced her excitement.


	13. Goodbye

Gold suddenly whipped her head around and roared at us. Smoke and I jumped back in surprise, and I glimpsed anger and…desperation in her eyes.

What's happening? I thought furiously. Why is she angry at us? Does she need something, like, really really need it?

Smoke pointed at the sack. "We got the treasure for you! Why are you still angry?"

Gold snarled at us again, and began pacing back and forth, growling and smoke rising from her snout. Ah, not Smoke, as in my friend, I mean literal smoke. I was totally freaked out, with her growling and pacing and smoke and whatnot. At least she doesn't have a poison tail. It'll take a lot of explaining to do.

"Are you…alright?" I asked her, although I knew that she wouldn't understand me.

Gold growled at me again, then sat down and frowned crossly and the pile of treasure.

"We should go now." Smoke suggested.

"While she's angry?" I snapped back. "She'll probably put us on the wall again!"

Gold sighed, now looking very sad and desperate. I slowly walked over to her wing and patted her talon, trying to reassure her. Smoke looked at me like I was crazy. Then again, this wasn't the craziest thing I've done. I just rode on her back a few minutes ago.

She looked down at me, a small smile now on her face. I smiled back, and she glanced at Smoke, who was looking at her very warily and edging closer, as if he kinda wanted to reassure her but didn't trust her a lot yet.

I pointed at her shoulder again. "Can I have another ride? Maybe with Smoke this time?" Gold shook her head. A wave of disappointment washed over me, but at least I got one ride.

The dragon shook out her wings and scooped the treasure back into the bag, and gently patted our heads before taking off with the treasure. I ran towards the cliff and waved. "Bye! Hope we'll see you again!" I called out. Beside me, Smoke muttered something like, I hope I don't see her again. I kicked him in the shin.

"Ow!" He glared at me. "What was that for?"

"Nothing." I said breezily and walked towards the forest. "Come on, it's getting late."

He caught up beside me. "What about the treasure?"

I frowned, thinking. "Maybe we just claim that we know nothing." I suggested. "We can make them believe that some invisible thing stole it. Or maybe the ghost of the queen took it back."

He shrugged. "Alright. But I'm not doing this again."


	14. To Our New Queen

**From Rose's PoV now**

Rose ran to the door as Sandy stepped inside.

"Where were you?" She demanded, even though she knew that he could not understand her. Sandy growled softly at her, then held his talon out. Rose rolled her eyes but climbed on.

She scrambled onto his back and grabbed his neck for balance as Sandy swept through the corridors and out one of the doors that led to where Leafa, Ink and Rose had killed that dragon. Why they had buried her right there, she never knew.

Outside, there were hundreds of dragons gathered in a circle. Seas, Sands, Fires, Ices, Nights, and Muds all surrounding the burial site, but most were hovering in the air, and looking down at something. Other dragons seemed to be holding down a big Mud. Suddenly, Rose saw a weird Sand. Sunny! Rose leaned forward, taking care not to fall off, to see if she saw correct. Sandy also stepped forward.

Then, Sharp(Blister) roared and turned toward Jewel(Blaze), skewering her with her gaze. Jewel gulped and whimpered something to a large Ice, who shook her head and growled softly, touching her wing to Jewel's before backing up to join the other Ices. Jewel looked back at Sharp, wide-eyed with fear. Sunny called to Jewel, but Sharp snarled and in a swift, sudden movement, she darted in, bit down viciously on the edge of her wing, and darted away again. Rose winced, as Jewel started shrieking in horror of her bleeding wing.

"Are they competing to be queen or something?" Rose asked herself. "But Jewel doesn't have any fighting skills at all." She'd known Jewel long enough to know that she's more a style and beauty dragon.

Sandy suddenly turned his head toward Sunny, and started towards her, carefully avoiding the fighting dragons. Rose sighed. "Oh, now you go over to Sunny."

Sandy slid up to Sunny's group of dragons and muttered something to Sunny, then glanced at the sky. An older Sand who looked like Sunny snapped at him, but Sandy just sighed and pointed at Baddy's corpse.

 _If they're competing to be Queen,_ Rose thought while Sandy conversed with the others, _they might want some treasure, right? All queens have treasure, they started fighting a lot after I got captured. Maybe it's the things we stole. Hmm…_ Rose tapped her chin while Sandy shook his head. _I remember there were three main things that we stole. There was that black thing that I got, and a blue star thing and a blue dragon thing that Leafa got. But Sandy told me that they burned down Leafa's village to find it, but the war hasn't ended yet… Aha!_

Rose slid down Sandy's shoulder and walked over to pat Sunny's talons. She looked up. "Don't worry. I think I got a solution to this."

A Sea near Sunny ducked her head to sniff at Rose. She growled at her. Rose took no notice and instead she wrapped her arms around Sunny's ankle and tugged. "Come on! I said I think I had a solution." Sunny only growled in confusion, and Sandy shrugged.

"Oh for goodness sake!" Rose yelled, jumping up and down. "I told you I had a solution!" She ran to the pit of sand where the dragon she had killed died, ran back to Sunny, tugged her ankle again, ran back to the sand pit, and started digging. Finally, Sunny followed her there.

"Yes, Sunny." Rose grumped and whacked Sunny's talon. "The solution is here!" She pointed at the sand. "DIG ALREADY! I can't reach her skeleton by myself!" Sunny started to dig. The Sea and the older Sand also started to dig. Rose sighed. "Finally. Jeez."

Their talons quickly swept away the sand, and Rose could see the gleam of white bones beneath them. She shivered, remembering the day that changed her life. Soon, they had almost the whole skeleton uncovered, and Rose slid down the pit and carefully climbed around the bones until she got to the dragon's skull. "Here." She said, tapping the skull's jaw.

Sunny reached down and pried open the mouth. Inside, as she remembered, were the two sacks that she'd thrown in, falling apart and full of holes. Sunny carefully lifted the sacks to the sand, and poured out the contents. Gems and gold coins and oversized bracelets tumbled out, including the black weirdly shaped one that Rose found. Sunny took the black thing, eyes widening in awe.

 _I was right_. Rose thought smugly to herself. Sunny stood up and bowed a little to Rose. A small earthquake shook the ground, making Rose scramble onto Sandy's back again. Everyone had stopped, looking at Sunny, who was holding the black orb. Sunny froze for a second, then turned and gave the orb to the older Sand. Something crackled between them as their claws touched - a tiny jolt of purple lightening sparking along the curve of the black stone.

Sunny roared, the sound echoing across the place. Murmurs and gasps rippled among the dragons. Sharp snarled and hissed, advancing on them. Suddenly, she lunged forward and snatched the black orb from the other Sand's talons. Rose gasped, and orange sparks started flying off where Sharp's claws touched it. There was a hissing, crackling, spitting sound that seemed to fill the whole place and expand outwards, shock waves spilling over the walls and the desert beyond.

Sharp's talons started shaking. It looked as if she was trying to drop the black rob but couldn't. Lightning flickered across the black stone and then out, darting along Sharp's arms and up into her wings. She jerked back, nearly lifting into the air, and fell, still clutching the orb. She didn't roar or growl or made a sound, even as her tail smashed into the ground and her head thrashed from side to side. Lightning cracked again, ripping through the Sand's body.

Rose hid her face in her arms, not wanting to watch. Then something exploded.

No sound at all.

No sound at all for a long long time.

Rose raised her head to see the older Sand pick up the orb. It made a little humming sound and flickered dark purple lines. She lifted the necklace over her head and let the chain settle around her neck. All the Sands began flying over to her and bowing to greet their apparent new queen.

Rose grinned. "I saved the world, didn't I?" She said to herself as Sandy, too, walked over and bowed. "To our new queen."


	15. Coal

**You are Coal (Bandit)**

You stare in terror of the giant Ice holding you. Next to her was a smaller one. The smaller one looked at you with a sort of gleam in his eyes. You stay silent as the two converse. Then the smaller one nodded and rushed away, soon bringing back an elaborate wire cage, with a platform, a wheel, and a swing. The smaller Ice grab you and drop you into the cage. You fall onto the base first, then stand up and grab the bars. The smaller Ice bows to the bigger one and grabs the cage, throwing you onto the base in the process. He takes off into the air, while you fall to the edge of the cage and stay there, shivering from the cold.

The Ice flies across the frozen land and two other ones soon join him. You cower as one of them sticks it's nose at the bars, and the one holding the cage yanks it back, making you crash into the wheel. You roll around, woozy from the cold and the pain, and a giant blue talon suddenly picks you up. You scream and flail, but the dragon just puts you onto the platform, on which you realize is blankets. The dragon also drops a piece of meat in front of you, but since it's uncooked and cold, you dive into the blankets and wrap them around you, trying to ignore the dragons staring at you, and you fall asleep.

* * *

You wake up, still in the cage, but now, you are in a cave, with lights hanging from the celling and a few sleeping mats piled at the side of the cave. There are no dragons anywhere to be seen. You stand up and stretch, then spot a small bucket of water at the base. You clamber down and scoop some water into your mouth. Beside the bucket of water was another piece of meat. You lean down to sniff it, stomach growling. A disgusting stench fills your nose, and you back off to the water bucket, where you wash your face to get the smell out.

Suddenly, a Sand walks into the cave. You run up to the platform and bury yourself in blankets, hoping that the Sand would not see you. It doesn't work, and the Sand walks over to the cage and bends down over the door. You peek out from underneath the blankets while the Sand pokes it's talons through the bars. It then touches the contraption and you stand up to see what it is doing. The claw hooks into the lock and pulls up, and the door swings open. You see your chance and dash out of the cage, out of the cave and down the hallway.

The Sand didn't even move. It just sat there looking surprised. You grin tiredly and run through a cave entrance and duck under the fence. You lift your head up, only to see a whirlwind of animals and dragons. Most of them were chasing cows, sheep, and chickens around, while others lounged on fruit piles or faced off against larger opponents. A dragon suddenly roars and runs toward you. Terrified, you run away from the fence and try to lose the dragon in the chaos. Unfortunately, more dragons see you and join the chase. You desperately weave around the stampeding animals while the dragons behind you roar and chase after you, apparently wanting you to keep for themselves.

A ruby-colored dragon rakes its talons right above your head, just missing by inches. You run on, even though your chest is heaving and your legs are tiring. A black dragon bolts over to you and you try to dodge it, but it cuts you off and darts left you block your retreat. It grabs you and lifts you up. You hardly struggle, partially because the talon was full of mango. All you could think is, _please swallow me whole please whole please._ You cover your face in your arms, expecting to get eaten. A dragon snarls and you keep your head down. Three dragons seem to have a conversation and you slowly look up. The one holding is a Night, and is conversing with the smaller Ice and the same Sand that let you out. An Emotion bounces up to the other dragons.

The Night lifts you into the Ice's talons, and the Ice peers at you, a disgusted look on it's face. You curl up into a ball again in it's cold talons. Suddenly, it walks over to the river and dunk you in.

"HEY!" You scream, spluttering water. "If you want me to be your pet, you don't have you DROWN me!" You cough as it lifts you up again, and you curl back into a ball again, shivering from the cold water. The Ice starts shaking you, and you yelp as you try to hang onto it's claws to avoid smacking onto the floor. _Actually that would be a good plan now._ You think dizzily.

The Ice holds you up and pokes you, and you whimper and flops to one side. It turns to the Night and snarls at her. The Emotion scampers to the fruit pile and comes back with some berries and a banana, and offers one to you. You stare for moment, wondering if it's actually feeding you. _Emotions are plant eaters._ The sudden thought enters your mind, and slightly relieved, you grab the blueberry, which is about the size of your hands, and bites into it. You almost sigh in relief. Food at last! You finish the blueberry and the Emotion hands you another one, and you grab it and bite into it hungrily.

The Ice snorts and jerks you away from the Emotion. You groan in protest as you drop the blueberry due to the sudden movement, and groan even more as the Ice takes you to back to the cave and places you inside the cage. You sigh and climb up the platform and cover yourself in blankets. The Ice whisks out of the cave, later coming back with a handful of berries. Iit opens the door, removes the meat, and replaces it with the berries. Still hungry, you run down and bury your head in the fruit. The Ice looks on with interest.

You wake up slightly to the shaking of the cage. Ice, you decided to call it, had put a cloth over the cage, so it was easy enough to sleep. Now, the cage was clearly moving, and you roll around on the platform a bit, still covered by blankets. Suddenly, the cage sets down in a bump, and the cloth gets pulled off. You slowly push the blankets off you, groaning and rubbing your arms. You look up and see a Night and an Emotion. The Night extends one claw through the cage at you, and you jump back. You rub the gunk away from your eyes to get a clearer look of the Night. It was the same one as last time. Tentatively, you step forward and put one hand on the talon. The Night blinks and withdraws its talon, and you sit back down on the blankets, shoulders slumped. Ice throws the cloth back on again and you plunge into darkness, as the cage gets lifted up again.

* * *

A few days have passed. You flop down on the blankets, perfectly miserable.

"Guys?" You call out. "Are you here. If you're listening, I'm sorry that I tried to climb it. Can you please save me?"

Silence.

"I'm really sorry." You try again. "I was stupid. I shouldn't have endangered you all. I'm sorry!" You bury your face in the blankets. "Flame, Jet, Opal, Mom, Dad, I'm sorry! I'm sorry I did that. I'm sorry that I got you killed." You sob freely now.

You turn over and lay on the blankets, tears scarring your face. You clearly remembered that attack. You had wanted to climb the barrier mountains to the Land of the Ice. You knew that there was little chance of surviving, yet you still wanted to do it. You had finally convinced Sahara, the leader of the tiny group that you grew up in, to go.

"Only once." He had warned. "Once and we're going back."

You had tried to climb that slope, and almost succeeded until that giant Ice swept above their group. It had grabbed you and breathed ice on the rest. You saw that only Sahara, Windswept, and Coco had survived before being flied off into the Land of the Ice. Their screams echoed in your mind for the whole trip.

Ice comes into the cave, and you wipe away your tears as you bury yourself under the blankets. Ice grabs the cage and stomps out. You roll around in blankets, until Ice takes off into the sky. It was raining, and you throw the soaked blankets to the base and run down under the platform, the only place where it was dry. Ice did not seem to care about the weather, and kept on flying until he got to the edge of the forest. You stumble as Ice sets down, then stare as he opens the door. Ice growls, and suddenly four dragons come out of nowhere. You trip over a dent in the wire cage, surprised by the dragons. Ice flails his wings, also surprised. He turns to look at you, then shakes his head. Suddenly, the Night that saved you staggers backwards and falls, then begins growling. You reach out, wanting to help it first, then back away as it starts growling. You cover your face, not wanting to see what happens.

A while later you uncover your face, and Ice now is growling at the others. He turns to you and roars. You scream and bolt out of the cage. You run for your life, fearing that Ice suddenly decided to eat you. You run deeper into the forest, before stopping and realizing that you didn't know where to go. You look around. All the trees were rising high up into the air. You turn around in a full circle when a noise startles you. You jump, then creep toward a set of bushes. A face pops out from the bush.

"Hi!" It said cheerfully.

You stumble backwards, then lean toward her. "Hi. Who are you?"

"I'm Ivy." She stands up, flipping long black hair behind her with one hand, the other hoisting some kind of table as an umbrella. "Who are you?"

"I'm Coal." You say nervously. "I'm looking for Leader Sahara."

"I don't know a leader sahara, but if you don't have anywhere to stay now, you can crash and mine or Smoke's place." She gestures to you and walks away. You follow her into the forest, slightly confused.


	16. Palm Oasis

You follow the girl-Ivy, into the forest. She takes a few turns, then spins around and begins to walk backwards. "So, what are you doing here, and what's a leader sahara?"

"Leader Sahara is a who, not a what." You snap, a bit annoyed. "He's the leader of my Clan."

"Ookay. No need to get so snappish. Answer the first question." She puts her hands behind her, possibly to make sure she doesn't bump into anything. You hope she does.

You scratch your head. "Um, I was captured by a dragon, and it later set me free."

Her eyes become as wide as blueberries. "Really? That is so cool!"

"It is not!" You give her confused and enraged look. "Who would want to be captured by a dragon?"

"I do!" Ivy raises her arm cheerfully. "They're so cool!"

"Well what if they eat you?" You point out.

Ivy paused. "Well, you didn't get eaten." She looks at you up and down. Looking for wounds?

You sigh. "He, the dragon…I think he wanted to keep me as a pet. He kept me in a cage and gave me food every day."

Ivy's eyes widened even more. "Woah! That is even cooler!"

You scowl. _She just doesn't get it. Probably never even saw a dragon before._ "It wasn't. What happened was horrifying." You begin to tell her what happened at the mountain, skipping the part when you cried. "And I ended up here." You finish.

Ivy winced. "Wow, that is pretty bad."

"Pretty bad? It was horrible and terrifying!" You almost yell.

"Oh shut up." She turns her back on you. "By the way, did you see a Sand with no poison tail in the mountain?"

"Huh? No poison tail. Um…" You try to think back. _That Sand who released me…no. He had a poison tail. I think there was one without a poison tail in the crowd of watching dragons though…_ "Maybe?" You offer.

"Yes!" Ivy jumps up. You take a step back, startled. "Now I can go meet her!" She announced happily.

You shoot her a very confused look. "What-?"

"We're there!" She grabs your arm and pulls you through a few trees. You push away leaves and see a cave entrance.

"Wait, you don't live in a Clan?" You ask her, surprised.

She laughs. "No, dummy. I just live with my family and my giant community. Now come on. Follow me, don't buy anything, and don't get lost." She strides into the cave, and you follow her.

You pass buildings in the tunnels, along with many shop stalls and even a giant marketplace. You had saw a juicy fruit for sale and wanted it, but Ivy slapped your hand before you could reach for it.

"Uh-uh." She had said. "I told you. No buying. I bet you don't have money, and Mom and Dad would kill me if I bought something _that_ expensive."

You and Ivy stop at a building that was somehow connected to some tree roots. "Come on." She gestures with her hand and walks inside. You follow her in, slightly nervous. She sits down on what seems like a wide chair with lots of padding. You sit down on the other one facing her.

"Are your parents here?" You ask.

She shakes her head. "Nope. They're at some kind of meeting. Again."

"You don't go?" You say.

"Well duh! It's ever so boring." She scowls.

You frown. Meetings were very interesting in your clan, usually consisting of large arguments and throwing fruit around. You often would try to catch the food to eat.

A person suddenly knocks on the wall. You turn around to face him

"Oh hi, Smoke." Ivy waves.

"Who's this?" The guy named Smoke points at you.

"He's Coal. He was captured by an Ice but the Ice later set him free. He also said that he saw Gold there!" You wonder why Ivy is so enthusiastic about that Sand.

"I said maybe." You correct. "Gold might not be there. But I need to get back to my clan. Can you help me?"

"He says that there's a guy called Sahara who's the leader of his clan." Ivy informs Smoke.

Smoke scratches his head. "Well, I heard a tiny shred of information about some guy called Sahara at the meeting. I think they said that he was going to the Palm Oasis, something or other."

Ivy looks at him like she couldn't believe him. "You actually went to the meeting?"

Smoke makes the same expression back at her. "You didn't go? Why? It's so interesting!"

You raise your hand. "Exactly my thoughts."

Smoke throws his arm toward you. "Yeah! Even Coal agrees!"

Ivy crosses her arms in a sulk. "I can't believe guys."

"I can't believe girls." Smoke retorts back.

"Wait," You interject. "I need to get back to Leader Sahara. You said the Palm Oasis, or something. The only thing that matches what I think it is is a big oasis in the middle of the desert, with a lot of palm trees surrounding it."

"So, you're gonna go back there?" Ivy asks.

"I guess." You scratch your head. "Problem is, I'm not totally sure where it is. I've only been there once or twice…"

"Don't worry." Ivy says cheerfully. "We'll figure something out."

"Wait, you're coming with me?" You ask, confused.

"We are?" Smoke also looks confused.

Ivy rolls her eyes. "Duh. If you go out on your own, it's a 95% chance that you'll die on the way, whether its eaten by a wolf or stomped on by a cow." You look at her strangely. She sees your expression and shrugs. "What, I heard that someone did get stomped on by a cow. They're humongous."

You decide not to argue. "What about your parents then?"

"We go by ourselves."

"WHAT?" You and Smoke yell at the same time.

"What?" Ivy seems annoyed. "Come on, we're 17. We can go by ourselves."

You sigh. "I guess that's the only option…"

"I am still not agreeing to this." Smoke says, crossing his arms.

Ivy stands up. "No one asked you to. You can stay here if you want."

Smoke slaps his hand to his forehead, and smudges it down so that his face looks longer. "Fine…Well somebody has to keep you out of danger, right?"

You grin. "Oooh…roasted…"

Ivy points at you with a murderous expression. "Say it again and I'll consider my partnership with you with a dagger."

* * *

 **Okay, I'm kinda having trouble with this plot now. Basically, they're gonna appear at the village that shot the spear thingy at Moon, Kinkajou, and Qibli, and finally Coal is gonna be the sad little guy that appeared in Escaping Peril. So now I sorta need ideas on how they get there :P**


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